Alleged illegal Chinese tobacco cigarettes worth ₱2.7 million were confiscated from two individuals during a checkpoint operation in Pililla, Rizal, on Saturday, May 23.
The Rizal Police Provincial Office (Rizal PPO) reported that a driver and a sales boy were arrested for violating Republic Act No. 9211 (Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003) in relation to Republic Act No. 12022 (Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act).
Pililla police apprehended the suspects during a checkpoint along Pakil-Jalajala Road in Barangay Halayhayin at around 11:53 a.m.
Recovered from the Toyota HiAce they were riding were 27 boxes of Chinese tobacco cigarettes, each box containing 50 reams, with an estimated total value of ₱2,700,000.
Rizal PPO provincial director Col. Eleazar Barber Jr. vowed to strengthen checkpoint operations and intelligence monitoring to ensure that illegal activities have no place in the province.
